Wednesday, 8 January 2020

Keynes's grandchildren and Marx's gig workers: Why human labour still matters

an article by Hamid R. Ekbia (Indiana University Bloomingtonm USA) and Bonnie A. Nardi (University of California, Irvine, USA) published in International Labour Review Volume 158 Issue 4 (December 2019)

Abstract

The current anxiety around the globe regarding automation and “the future of work”, the irrelevance of human labour and the superfluity of humans is based on recurring ideas about technology, work and economic value.

Not quite novel, the debate on these ideas dates back to prominent thinkers, such as Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes.

To grasp the present moment, therefore, the authors revisit this debate within the broader history of capitalism. With a focus on labour and technology, they bring attention to the hidden forms of value creation in the current economy and to the blind spots of the historical debate, and envision various possible scenarios for the future.

Full text (PDF 24pp)

Labels:
future_of_work, technological_change, capitalism, automation, theory,


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